Gerard John Shaefer Jr., was born into a troubled family on March 25, 1946 in Wisconsin, however he lived much of his early life in Georgia. He was the eldest of three children and was born to a strong-willed mother and an extremely violent and adulterous father. At the age of fourteen he and his family moved to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. He graduated from high school in 1964 from St. Aquinas High School, after which he attended Broward Community College. He had a brief two-year marriage to Martha Fogg. They divorced in 1970, Martha accused him of being extremely cruel. He applied for the priesthood and was turned away because he didn't have enough faith. He attempted to teach and was fired from some schools for imposing his beliefs on his students. Unable to live out any of his “callings,” he decided to apply to become a police officer. He was rejected by the Broward County Sheriff's Department for failing a psychological test, but was eventually hired by the smaller Whilton Mannor police force in 1970. On April 20, 1972, shortly after receiving a commendation, he was fired. Various reasons were given for his firing, including that he lacked common sense and used traffic stops as a way to pick up women. The latter began working as a deputy sheriff at the Martin County Sheriff's Department in Stuart, Florida. After 28 days of work he made the big mistake that finally got him captured, he let two of his victims escape. On July 22, 1972, Gerard Shaefer picked up two teenage hitchhikers, Nancy Trotter, 18, and Pamela Wells, 17. According to what he later said, he then tried to “teach them a lesson.” He took them to the swamp and tied them. He had them stand on a stand on a milk crate and hung a noose... in the center of the paper... Works Cited Blanco, Juan I. "Gerard Schaefer | Murderpedia, the encyclopedia of murderers." Gerard Schaefer | Murderpedia, the encyclopedia of murderers. Murderpedia, na. Network. 02 December 2013. http://murderpedia.org/male.S/s/schaefer-gerard.htm.Mason, Yvonne. Silent scream. [United States]: Lulu.com, 2011. PrintSchaefer, G.J. and Sondra London. Killer narrative. Venice, CA: Feral House, 1997. Print“Serial Killer - Gerard John Schaefer - Documentary." YouTube. Ed. RabbitInRed. YouTube, 06 March 2013. Web. 02 December 2013. Treadway, Tyler. "Former Martin County Deputy's Killing La spree of the 1970s is still one of the most gruesome murders in St. Lucie County history. "TCPalm. Scripps Interactive NewspaperGroup, November 28, 2010. Web. November 20, 2013. by/>.